Two inductees named from historically black colleges

Danny Goodwin spent the early 1970s leading the Southern University baseball team as it transitioned from NAIA to NCAA competition.

He may not be as well-known as Lou Gehrig or Jackie Robinson, but he’s about to join them in the National College Baseball Hall of Fame.

Goodwin is one of seven inductees for 2011, the Lubbock-based group announced Monday. It will be the Hall’s sixth class, and the first that expands beyond college baseball’s most familiar faces.

“This really means a lot because I didn’t come from a well-known baseball school, at least nationally,” Goodwin said. “This gives schools like Southern an opportunity to let the nation know there are some quality young men playing baseball. I don’t know if many people understand the real history of baseball or how revered baseball is in the black community at large.”

Goodwin was a standout at Southern University, where had a .394 career batting average with 20 home runs and 166 RBIs and was the 1975 Sporting News Player of the Year while Southern transitioned from NAIA to NCAA status. He and former Grambling State coach Ralph Waldo Emerson “Pres” Jones are the first athlete and coach inducted from historically black colleges and universities.

Jones coached Grambling State from 1926 to 1977 and was the school’s president from 1936 to 1977. He led Grambling to six Midwest Athletic League and five Southwestern Athletic Conference titles.

“Every year the theme we get coming back from all the voters is ‘Man, this is

tough,’” executive director Mike Gustafson said. “We had 53 names on (the ballot) this year and every one is really deserving because you’re talking about national players of the year and multiple all-Americans and guys that are retired-jersey number type of people.”

While the Hall of Fame used its first five classes to build a foundation of established college baseball legends, Gustafson said the 2011 inductees include athletes and coaches who might not be so quickly recognized. Changing the voting process to select a group of nominees and then revote — rather than just admitting the top vote-getters as in the past — helped a new group be recognized.

The class of 2011 might be not be some of the most well-known college baseball players from the past, but they’re still ones who put up outstanding numbers and won numerous awards during their playing or coaching career.

“This class is a little smaller,” Gustafson said, “but the best part and the funnest part is the black college legends and pioneers and giving recognition to that aspect of the college baseball world that we hadn’t been able to get through the regular balloting process.”

This year’s induction ceremonies will be held on Sunday, July 3 and will be combined with the annual College Baseball Foundation Awards Show at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center.

Higlights about the other inductees:

■ Francona was an outfielder at Arizona from 1978-80 and played for current Hall of Famer Jerry Kindall. Currently the manager of the Boston Red Sox, he was the National Player of the Year and Golden Spikes Award winner in 1980 after leading the Pac-10 for the second straight season in hits, RBIs and doubles, and he was named the 1980 College World Series Most Outstanding Player.

■ Groat played shortstop at Duke from 1951 to 1952 and was named an all-American in both baseball and basketball. He helped lead Duke to its only College World Series appearance in 1952 before embarking on a 16-year career in Major League Baseball, mostly with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was also inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007.

“Certainly, I’m extremely proud,” said Groat, who is part of the radio broadcast crew for the University of Pittsburgh basketball network. “I played major league baseball and yet I always thought I was a better basketball player than I was a baseball player. But obviously baseball was what I made my career at. It’s an honor to go in with these other great players.”

■ McDowell was an outstanding outfielder at Arizona State from 1983 to 1984 who also played for 2007 Hall of Fame inductee in Jim Brock. McDowell was a career .380 hitter with 30 home runs and 31 doubles, and in 1984 he was named the Golden Spikes winner after hitting .405 with 23 home runs. He is the first Sun Devil to have his number retired and currently coaches baseball at Everglades High School in Florida.

■ Wallach, who is currently the hitting coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers, helped put Cal State-Fullerton on the map by leading the Titans to the 1980 College World Series championship. He was named a first-team all-American by the American Baseball Coaches Association and The Sporting News and was also the Golden Spikes winner after hitting .392 with 23 home runs, 102 RBIs (still a school record) and a .740 slugging percentage.

■ Wilhelm compiled a 1,161-536-10 record while coaching at Clemson from 1958 to 1993. He coached 36 straight winning seasons with five 50-win seasons, 11 Atlantic Coast Conference championships and six trips to the College World Series. Also, 16 teams under his direction finished in the top 25 and he coached 20 all-Americans and 88 first-team all-conference players.